


Missing Pieces

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Children of War [13]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-08-14 19:09:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8025550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: Missing moments from my 'Children of War' series. Tags will be updated with each new part posted. (Warning for parts 1&2: discussion of suicide attempt. Part 3: Warning for PTSD flash-backs)





	1. The Listening

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea how many chapters this will be it depends on how many blanks I decide I want to fill in. right now it’s just this and one other thing that I’ll get around to writing at some point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Continuity: Takes place during part 6; Inspired by a line from part 7: "Serena remembers a few weeks ago, when Sora burst into the Hiiragi household, tears in his eyes, and screamed that Yuri tried to kill himself."]

The hallway outside Yuri’s room is crowded. Right now he’s being examined, and no one is allowed in aside from Yoko and Yusho. Sora, Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo all sit in the plastic chairs lined up across from the door, each lost in their own thoughts. Nurses and doctors hurry past them, ignoring their presence as they rush to other patients in the hospital.

Sora wants to scream at the doctors. How can they ignore the four boys crying in the hallway? Doesn’t anyone care about them? Why isn’t anyone asking if they’re okay?

‘ _My friend tried to kill himself,_ ’ Sora thinks. He doubles over and starts to cry for the third time that night.

“Aw, Sora,” Yugo sighs, patting Sora’s back. “It’s going to be okay. Yuri’s safe now, he can’t hurt himself here, and we’re going to make sure he gets help.”

“It’s not fair,” Sora cries. “He was getting better! I don’t understand!”

“He was hiding things from us,” Yuya says.

Sora sobs into his hands. “I wish I had known. I would have waited…”

“Waited?” Yuto echoes, “For what?”

Sora shakes his head. “Did anyone tell Serena?”

“Shit!” Yuya cries. “No, I didn’t…I don’t think my parents did…we have to let them know!”

Sora gets to his feet, grabbing the chance to escape. “I’ll go.”

“Go?” Yugo repeats. “You mean, to their house?”

Sora nods and says, “They should be told in person. Not over the phone. And I can’t sit here anymore. I’ll go.”

“Well, someone should go with you,” Yugo says, but Sora stomps his foot.

“No!” He cries. “I have to…I want to see Serena, I want to go alone.”

Yugo looks ready to argue, but Yuto puts a hand on Yugo’s arm and says, “Go on, Sora. We’ll tell Yusho and Yoko where you went.”

So Sora runs. He runs down the hall, down the stairs, out of the hospital, and he doesn’t stop running until he gets to the Hiiragi household, and he physically slams his body against the door and hammers on the wood. He can hardly breathe, both from running and from crying, and when Serena opens the door it occurs to Sora that he has no idea what time it is.

“What the hell?!” Serena gasps. Sora falls forward and Serena barely catches him. “What happened to you?”

“Yuri…” Sora pants, “Yuri’s in the…hospital.”

“Where’s Yuya and Yoko and everyone?”

“With him,” Sora says, his voice rising. “He tried to kill himself.”

Serena cries out. “No, oh my god!”

They both fall to the floor. Serena has her hands on Sora’s shoulders and she shakes him. “What happened? Is he alive?”

Sora nods, but he’s too overcome with tears to speak. He falls on his hands and knees, gasping for breath, and eventually he ends up facedown on the floor, sobbing hysterically.

He’s suddenly hauled up and dragged bodily across the room—Serena’s got him under his arms and she’s yelling for Shuzo. He comes into the room and together they lift Sora on to the couch. Next thing Sora knows, he’s got a paper bag pressed to his mouth, and Serena is telling him to breathe.

Sora watches the bag inflate and deflate as he breathes, and soon he’s able to control how fast he breathes and how deeply. Serena takes the bag and presses a glass of water into Sora’s hands. He drinks it slowly, and when it’s done he realizes that he still has to actually explain what happened.

“Yuri’s in the hospital,” he says again. “Last night En was barking and woke us all up, but Yuya was the first to get to where he was. Yuri was in the kitchen and he looked terrible, En was jumping around him and making a racket. Yuya said that Yuri told him he felt like he was still Leo Akaba’s puppet. Then Yugo came to the kitchen and Yuri…Yuri told Yugo to get a knife and break him with it,” Sora’s teeth are chattering. “Yuri said he wanted to finally lose to Leo Akaba.”

“Did he actually hurt himself?” Serena asks.

Sora shakes his head, “But he was so thin and tired, and he kept saying he could see Akaba watching him.” He wraps his arms around himself. “It was horrible, Serena.”

Serena hugs Sora tightly, and Sora cries on her shoulder.

“I want to go get the kids from school,” Shuzo says, “Serena, can you stay here with Sora, or do you want me to stay with you?”

“You go,” Serena says. “Sora and I will be okay.”

Shuzo must leave, but Sora doesn’t hear him go. He cries for a long time, and when he finally calms down, he and Serena are alone.

“Is everything okay with you?” Serena asks. “You…I’ve never seen you like this.”

Sora whispers, “I was mad at Yuri, only for a minute but…I was still mad. I asked Yoko and Yusho to adopt me last night.” He hiccups and fresh tears spill over his cheeks. “They were going to start the process today.”

He half expects Serena to call him unbelievably selfish, or say that Yuri couldn’t have known that—all things that Sora has been thinking to himself.

“That sucks,” Serena says. Sora gives her a shocked look, and she shakes her head. “God, talk about bad timing. I’m really sorry, Sora. You must have been so happy.”

“I was,” Sora whimpers.

Serena strokes Sora’s hair. “You can still be happy, it doesn’t mean you’re less upset about Yuri. And you know, Dr. Aki would probably tell you that it’s normal for you to be mad. Have you talked to Yoko and Yusho?”

Sora rubs his eyes. “No,” he says, “They’ve been busy with Yuri.”

Serena hands Sora tissue and waits for him to blow his nose before she says, “Then when you go back to the hospital, you should ask if you can talk to them.”

“I don’t want to bother them,” Sora says.

Serena scoffs, “You’re about to be their son, you’re supposed to bother them. And I’ll bother them with you, how’s that sound?”

Sora manages to smile. “Okay,” he says. “Thank you.”

Serena ruffles Sora’s hair. “Anything for you, kiddo. We’re fusion royalty, we’ve gotta stick together.”


	2. Face Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey there.”
> 
> Yuri blinks and turns towards the voice. There’s a man in the café doorway. Yuri looks over his shoulder, but no one is around. Yuri points to himself.
> 
> The man nods. “Do you want to come in?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: After Part 6  
> title inspired by the song of the same name by the artist Lights. And it perfectly fits this part. Poor Yuri I'm so mean to him.

The first time Yuri looks in a mirror after he gets out of the hospital, he understands why everyone is looking at him like they’re afraid he might collapse. He has dark circles under his eyes, he’s pale and his skin looks dirty, and when he takes off his shirt in the bathroom, his left arm is covered in bruises from the IV line. Yuri wants to cry, but he’s cried so much in the last few days, he forces himself to hold the tears back. He’s tired of crying.

Yuya, Yuto, Yugo and Sora all go back to school, Yusho goes back to work at his duel school, and Yuri is left at home with Yoko. He tries sewing, but his heart isn’t in it. He turns on the TV and gets bored. He lies on the sofa and closes his eyes, but tired as he is, he can’t sleep.

“Everything okay?” Yoko asks.

Yuri shakes his head. “I’m so bored.”

“Why don’t you take En for a walk?”

Yuri sits up. “By myself?”

Yoko nods.

“You’re not afraid I’ll step in front of a bus?”

“You won’t if you have En with you,” Yoko says. She sits on the sofa beside Yuri and holds out an arm. Yuri accepts her hug. “I still trust you,” Yoko says. “I don’t think you’ll try to hurt yourself again.”

Yuri knows now that he was wrong to think that no one would miss him. But he still jumps at shadows, and he still wonders just what he’s doing in this dimension.

Yuri leashes En and he walks out of the house. He’s not sure where he’s going, he walks aimlessly, letting En lead, stopping only for crosswalks. After a while En finds an interesting scent and drags Yuri to a storefront. Yuri blinks and forces himself to focus. It’s a café. There’s a display of baked goods in the window, and En is staring up at it with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Yuri remembers when he was at the orphanage, and they would go on walks around the neighborhood. The kids all admired the giant cakes in the bakery display windows and wished they could have cakes like those someday. This café display isn’t half as fancy, mostly muffins and cookies, but it reminds Yuri of when he was a kid, standing on the other side of something he couldn’t have.

“Hey there.”

Yuri blinks and turns towards the voice. There’s a man in the café doorway. Yuri looks over his shoulder, but no one is around. Yuri points to himself.

The man nods. “Do you want to come in?”

Yuri looks at En. “I can’t, I can’t leave him.”

“Is he a service dog?”

Yuri tries to remember what Yuya said. “He’s an emotional…support dog?”

“That counts,” the man says. “This café welcomes service animals, so he can come in.”

Yuri puts his hands in his pockets. By some miracle he actually has money in them (he suspects that Yoko slips money in all their pockets when they’re not looking), so he decides to accept the offer to go inside. He scoops En into his arms and follows the man into the café.

It seems like there’s no one inside other than the two of them. Yuri walks up to the counter and stares at the menu. He can’t make heads or tails of half the drinks. What is a Frappuccino?

Yuri sighs. “I just want coffee,” he mutters.

“Black?” The man asks.

“Sure,” Yuri says.

“Anything to eat?”

Yuri looks at the display case. There’s a bunch of huge muffins, and Yuri gestures to them. “What’s in them?”

“Blueberries,” the man says.

“Okay, one of those,” Yuri says.

A girl pops up from behind the counter, sees Yuri, and her eyes widen. “Christ, are you alright?” She cries, “You look like you’ve been through hell!”

Yuri actually laughs. “Yeah,” he says, “Actually I kind of have.”

The girl ushers Yuri to a table. He sits and puts En in his lap, and his arm falls to the side, revealing his bruises, which he forgot he had. The girl sees them and gasps.

“Holy shit, did someone crush your arm?” She asks.

Yuri looks down. “Oh, no,” he says quietly. “It was…it was an IV.” He swallows. “I tried to pull it out, I think. I don’t remember.”

Yuri looks up. He’s shocked to see that the girl is looking at him with pity. “Service dog, IV line, memory loss, looking like hell…” she shakes her head. “And you don’t look at day over sixteen. You poor thing, someone must have really messed with your head.”

Yuri’s eyes feel hot. He nods. “Yeah, yeah they did.”

“Aw, honey,” the girl says, sitting down across from Yuri. “Are you from one of those other dimensions?”

Yuri nods and looks down. “Fusion,” he says. He’s not sure why he’s talking to this girl, she’ll probably end up hating him, but Yuri just can’t seem to hold the words back. “I was part of the group that started the war. I did terrible things, and everyone says it wasn’t my fault, I was coerced and tricked and taken advantage of but…but I took direct orders from Leo Akaba, I believed every stinking word that came out of his mouth.” Yuri’s mouth twists and tears fall from his eyes. “Sometimes I still feel like I’m that person. Like he’s still got this hold on me and I’ll snap and hurt everyone who cares about me. I tried to kill myself to get away from him, I was seeing him everywhere. I thought no one would miss me, and I was wrong about that, and they told me I changed, but I still don’t know if I believe them.”

Yuri wipes his eyes on his sleeve, and a napkin appears in front of him. He looks up. The girl is still there, to Yuri’s shock. He would have thought she’d leave.

“That’s a terrible way to feel,” she says as Yuri accepts the napkin.

Yuri sniffles. “Yeah, it is.”

“You’ve got demons,” the girl says. “They live in your head and whisper awful things to you. And you try to push them away, tell them to shut up, and sometimes it works, but sometimes they talk over you and you end up believing them.”

Yuri stares at the girl. “How did you know?”

She smiles sadly. “I’ve got demons of my own.” She rolls up her sleeve and shows Yuri a long, white scar on the inside of her wrist. “Someone had a hold on me, too. He pushed ideas on to me, told me things about myself that ate away at my self-esteem and made me feel small. I got away from him, but his words stuck with me. They ate at me from the inside out, no matter how much I told myself it wasn’t true, no matter how much people around me told me it wasn’t true. It got to be too much, so like you, I tried to kill myself. I was lucky I survived, and it was only while I was in the hospital that I realized I’d let someone else hold on to me for so long. When I decided I wanted to live, that’s when I realized that he was wrong about me. I was worth something to someone—I was worth something to myself.”

The man from earlier comes over and puts a cup of coffee and a muffin in front of Yuri.

The girl nods at the food. “You made a good choice, those muffins are amazing.”

En paws at Yuri’s leg and whines. The girl grins at him. “He’s a cutie.”

“He stopped me from killing myself,” Yuri says. “He barked and woke up my…my foster siblings.”

“What a smart dog,” the girl says. “Is he friendly?”

Yuri nods. She bends down and holds out her hands. En waddles over to her, stubby tail wagging, and she pets him. Yuri takes a bite of the muffin and nearly gasps. It’s really good, and he eats half of it before the girl sits up, En on her lap.

“He’s adorable,” she coos.

Yuri wipes his mouth and takes a sip of the coffee. It’s actually really good, and it tastes different from what he usually has.

“What kind of coffee is this?” He asks.

The girl says, “We add nutmeg and cinnamon to our roasts, gives it a little something extra. Is it good?”

Yuri nods. He takes another sip, then he clears his throat and asks, “How long did it take for you to…you know, feel okay again?”

“Oh boy,” the girl laughs. “Well, maybe six months? That was when I started working here. I still had days where I wanted to stay in bed all day and not move, and days where I hated myself. Sometimes I still hear those voices, but I’m better at telling them to fuck off. The thing about an experience like that is it messes with you. I’m not the same person I was before, but in a way, I’m glad for that. The person I was before didn’t know how to pick herself up after getting knocked down. I feel okay, but it’s a different kind of okay, for me. Part of recovering is finding out what your normal is, because it’s not going to be the same normal as it used to be.”

Yuri frowns. “Doesn’t that mean it’s abnormal?”

The girl waves her hand. “Nah. Normal is waking up and finding something to be happy about, versus pissed that you have to slog through the motions of another day. It’s realizing that you’re happy again.” She looks at Yuri. “Have you been diagnosed with depression?”

Yuri nods. “Among other things.”

“Then let me tell you something I learned from my therapist,” she says, “There’s a quote from the book Prozac Nation that goes, ‘if you ask anyone in the throes of depression how he got there, to pin down the turning point, he'll never know.’ Then this author, she uses the phrase, ‘Gradually, then suddenly.’ And that’s true for falling into depression, as well as for getting out of it. You go down slowly, and you don’t realize you’re there until you’re at the bottom. When you claw your way out, it seems like it takes forever. Then one day you’re standing in a café, pouring coffee for a customer, laughing at a joke, and you realize that you’re actually happy. It’s real, you can feel it, you’re looking forward to walking home and feeling the sun on your face, and you don’t feel like curling up under a blanket and never speaking to anyone again.”

Yuri feels like crying again. “I wish I was there now.”

The girl smiles. “You’ll get there. It sounds like you’ve got a good family and nice friends, and that’s important. Don’t shut them out, because chances are they mean it when they say that they want to hear what’s on your mind. And as for your worries that you’re just the same person you used to be, well, that worry is the best evidence that you’re changing.”

Yuri rubs his eyes. “I’m pretty sure my brother said that exact same thing.”

“Listen to your brother,” the girl says. “He knows what he’s talking about.”

Yuri smiles. “Thank you,” he says.

“No worries,” she says. “I’m Haruka, by the way.” She points to the man behind the counter. “That’s Gou.”

Yuri clears his throat. “I’m Yuri. And my dog is…well he came with the name En, but I want to change it.”

“En?” Haruka says.

“There’s a cat named Core. They’re Encore.”

Haruka laughs. “Holy cow, that’s so lame!”

Yuri laughs with her.

“There you go,” Haruka says, “Your whole face changes when you smile. I hope you find reasons to smile again.”

Yuri looks around the café. “How come it’s so empty?” he asks.

“Ah,” Haruka says, “Well, we’re not actually open yet.”

“Oh!” Yuri cries. “I didn’t know.”

“Well, I did invite you in,” Gou calls, leaning over the counter. “You just seemed so upset, I was worried about you.”

Yuri is touched. “Thanks,” he says. “I…I’m glad I came here.”

“So am I,” Haruka says.

Yuri doesn’t want to leave, but he knows he should. “My…foster mom is probably wondering where I am.” He’s struck by a realization. “I don’t actually know where I am. I was just kind of walking.”

Haruka pulls out her phone. “What’s your address?”

Yuri tells her, and she shows him her phone. “You’re not actually that far away, see? Can you find your way?”

Yuri sighs in relief. “Okay, yes I can get back from here.” He stands up. “Um. I didn’t actually pay for the food.”

“It’s on the house,” Haruka says firmly. “You let me cuddle your dog, the least I can do is give you coffee and food. In fact, if you want to come back here, you can have free coffee if you let me play with En when the café isn’t busy.”

Yuri smiles. “You know what, I think I’ll take you up on that.”

“Great!” Haruka says. “We’ll see you around, Yuri.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haruka had an abusive ex-boyfriend. I torment my own damn OCs.


	3. Wish I Could Spark a Smile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Xyz isn't home anymore, all Ruri remembers is a battlefield that she tried to navigate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a line from part 9: "Ruri, Shun, and Yuto got to go to the Spade branch last week and see it, though they all elected to return to Standard after the tour." Takes place prior to part 6. [Title inspired by a line from Lights' song "Face Up"]

Reiji turns to them, a frown on his face. “You’re sure about this?”

The three of them nod. The Spade Branch is reopening today, and they have been invited to go tour the building. They have been wondering if they should go home for a long time, and with the one year anniversary of the war’s end approaching, this is as good a time as any.

Reiji opens the portal. “It will stay open for six hours. After that, you’ll have to wait 24 hours before I can open it again.”

Ruri takes Shun’s hand. She’s nervous, the last time she was in the XYZ dimension, it was in ruins. They walk through the portal together.

Ruri closes her eyes and doesn’t open them again until she feels a gentle breeze on her face. The first thing she sees is Heartland tower, center of the skyline. It is half skeletal, half beautifully redone, and a crane hangs from the side of the building. Then she sees the repaved paths in front of her, the tiny trees that line them. The portal gateway lies in the center of a very familiar park. Ruri looks around—she and Shun have spent many days in this park, playing soccer with their friends from school and having practice duels.

And it’s where she faced down a girl from Fusion world whose laugh reminded Ruri of something out of a nightmare.

Ruri’s heart stops and she presses her hands to her face.

“Ruri?” Shun calls anxiously, “Are you okay?”

Ruri takes several deep breaths. “Yes,” she says as her heartrate returns to normal. She opens her eyes and looks at Shun. He has eyes only for her, but when she looks at Yuto, she sees that he’s pale, and sweat is dotting his forehead.

“Let’s go,” Ruri says quietly.

They begin the walk to their old school. Signs of healing are everywhere, there are people walking among the paths, there are children playing, and there are teenagers dueling.

They get to the school and are greeted by their old Principal, Mr. Tenjo. Ruri runs ahead and hugs him, remembering fondly how he used to praise the students of the academy.

“Welcome back,” Mr. Tenjo says. He shakes Shun and Yuto’s hands. “We’ve all heard about how brave the three of you were during the war. We’re very proud of you.”

“Thank you,” Ruri says.

Mr. Tenjo takes the three of them into the school grounds. The ancient trees that Ruri used to sit under are gone, but saplings have been planted, and new flowerbeds are the central focus of several seating areas.

“It’s beautiful,” Ruri says.

“We had some input from our students about how to redo the grounds,” Mr. Tenjo says. “They wanted it to feel open, yet safe.” He points to the gates. “There are security cameras every twenty feet, and during school hours the gates are closed, and can only be accessed with an identification card, given to school staff and students.”

Ruri shivers. As much as the world tries to heal, the past has left scars.

Inside too are signs of the trauma. Ruri notices grates above the windows, and Mr. Tenjo says that they roll down should the school need to be placed on lockdown. They can also lock all the doors from a central command post, but the doors can be opened by teachers with a passcode. Mr. Tenjo says that once the semester starts, counselors will be available to meet with students on appointment and walk-in basis.

“We know it may be hard for some students to adjust to returning to lessons here,” Mr. Tenjo says, “We’re prepared to allow them time to adjust.”

Mr. Tenjo shows them a unique new feature of the school. In the hallway leading to the auditorium is a mural of the Heartland skyline along one wall, and along the opposite wall bricks have been engraved with names.

“These are the names of all the staff and students who were part of our school at the time of the invasion,” Mr. Tenjo says. “Even those who were lost early on deserve to be remembered for the part they played.”

Yuto gasps and touches the wall. “Our names…”

Shun and Ruri lean over his shoulders. There it is, their names engraved into the brick. Ruri feels touched, and like she wants to throw up.

The tour is finished, and Mr. Tenjo leaves to oversee plans for the first day back. Shun, Ruri, and Yuto begin to make their way out of the building. Ruri passes by a door and suddenly stops. She turns to the door and enters the classroom. She knows this place…it used to be a chemistry lab, though now it’s a computer lab.

It’s also where Ruri hid with a freshman girl. They covered their faces with scarves and held open bottles of ammonia in their gloved hands. The little girl cried silently, and Ruri held a finger to her lips as footsteps passed them. They weren’t discovered, and they escaped unscathed to bring the ammonia to the rebellion’s base, but Ruri remembers the bloodlust she felt in that moment, how prepared she was to splash chemicals into the eyes of her enemies.

“Ruri!”

Ruri realizes that she’s not breathing. She inhales shakily and begins to cry. Shun’s arm goes around her shoulder, and he guides her out of the room, and out of the building.

“I want to go home,” Ruri whispers.

Shun looks pained. “This was our home,” he says quietly.

During the year, they lived in the academy’s dorms, and during breaks they returned to the orphanage. But the Academy was the place Ruri and Shun felt most welcome. Or, it used to be.

“This isn’t my home anymore,” Ruri says quietly. “My home is in Standard, with you and Serena, Rin, Yuzu and Shuzo.”

Yuto puts his hand on Shun’s shoulder. “I agree,” he says quietly. “I don’t feel like I belong here anymore.”

Shun closes his eyes. “I know,” he admits, bowing his head. “I just…I’ve wanted to come back for so long. I thought things would be better but now I just feel worse.”

Ruri hugs Shun. “I know. This is all we wanted and now that we have it…”

Yuto sighs. “There’s too many bad memories here.”

Their time in Xyz isn’t quite up yet, but they have no more attachment to this place. They take one last look at the school, at Heartland tower, and then they go back to the dimensional portal.

 

When Ruri and Shun get home, Yusho meets them in the doorway. He takes one look at their pale, drawn faces, and ushers them into the living room. He tells them to sit on the couch, and tells Yuzu to bring them blankets. Yuzu, Rin, and Serena sit with them, and Serena suggests watching a movie. The put on Sword in the Stone, and Yusho brings in a tray filled with mugs of hot chocolate.

“Thank you,” Ruri says.

Yusho smiles at her. “Just doing my job, dear. Let me know if you need anything.”

Ruri looks at Shun, and he smiles at her. She giggles and gestures to his lip—he’s got a hot chocolate mustache.

“You’ve got one too,” Shun says, licking his lip. He missed several spots, but he doesn’t seem to care. Ruri leans her head on Shun’s shoulder. Actually, she’s starting to think that this is a far better home than she ever had in Xyz.


	4. Staring at the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Takes place between parts 14 and 15, spoilers for part 14 if you're not up to it yet. The first time Yuya and Yuri say 'I love you.'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said the series was done, but I also said I might come back to it! And I just happened to get inspired to write this moment ^^

“I love you more than all of the stars in the sky.”

The two of them are sitting on Yuya’s bed. Stitch lies on the floor, and Yuri has been thumbing through a magazine as Yuya goes through his cards. Yuri looks at Yuya. “I beg your pardon?”

Yuya grins at Yuri. “I love you more than all the stars in the sky,” he says again.

Yuri frowns. “That’s scientifically impossible, considering that love can’t be quantified. It’s a feeling, it has no physical presence. And to number the stars at all is also scientifically impossible, because the universe is ever expanding, and stars are constantly being born and dying, in galaxies we can’t even see yet—”

“Yuri,” Yuya says gently. He puts his cards down and puts his hands on Yuri’s cheeks. “I mean it.”

Yuri gulps. “I…I know.”

“You don’t have to say it back,” Yuya says. “I just want you to know.”

Yuri’s emotions are in turmoil. He wants to run, and he wants to fling himself at Yuya.

“Why?” He asks.

Yuya sweeps aside the cards and grabs Yuri’s legs, tugging him closer.

“Hey!” Yuri cries as he flails. The magazine goes flying, the quilt bunches uncomfortably under him, and Yuya is very, very close, so close Yuri can’t see him without going cross-eyed, so he looks down.

“Because you know about the universe than I ever will,” Yuya says.

“Huh?” Yuri asks.

Yuya kisses his cheek. “Because you love Stitch, even though you used to be afraid of him.” He kisses Yuri’s nose. “Because you connected to people, you made friends even though you weren’t sure people would ever connect to you. Because you didn’t give up on yourself.” He kisses Yuri’s other cheek. “Because you make tiny hats for Hyperion. Because you tutor Sora in science. Because you dote on him just like a big brother should.” He kisses the space above Yuri’s lips. “Because sometimes when I kiss you, after I get home from school, you taste like coffee and I know you’ve spent the day with Serena, and I’m so happy that you have her as a friend.” Yuya kisses him, and Yuri scrambles to get a hold of something—he ends up with one hand tangled in Yuya’s hair and the other curled in the bedspread.

Yuya pulls away. “Because I can hear your breath hitch when I kiss you like that.”

“What are you doing?” Yuri asks.

“Listing the reasons why I love you,” Yuya says. “You asked why.”

“Those more like things you love instead of reasons.”

“Aren’t the things I love about you reasons to love you?” Yuya asks, smirking.

Yuri feels his cheeks heat up. Yuya kisses them. “Another reason—I love when I get you to blush, you look so cute.”

“I’m not cute,” Yuri says.

“You’re adorable,” Yuya says, kissing Yuri’s cheek again. He kisses again, and again, a line to Yuri’s ear, and he kisses just under Yuri’s earlobe. “You have a freckle right here, and I love it,” Yuya says, his lips brushing Yuri’s ear, and he kisses the same spot again. “It looks like a star.”

“It does?” Yuri asks, breathless.

“It does to me,” Yuya says. “Do you have any other freckles?”

“I never noticed,” Yuri says, his throat tight.

“I’m going to find them someday,” Yuya vows, between kisses that he peppers on Yuri’s cheeks. “I’m going to find all of them and I’m going to kiss them.”

Yuri gasps and he covers his mouth, nearly smacking Yuya in the face as he does so. Yuya laughs and bumps his forehead gently against Yuri’s.

“God, I love you,” Yuya says. He places his hands on Yuri’s cheeks once more. He brushes his thumbs across Yuri’s lower lip. “You’re awe inspiring.”

“Am not,” Yuri says.

“Are too,” Yuya fires back. “I’ll never get enough of you. I’ll never stop loving you. I’ll never find a way to tell you how much I love you, other than it’s more than all the stars in the sky.”

Yuri’s mouth has gone dry, his heart is hammering in his chest, and he’s pretty sure his hands are shaking. Yuya leans back slightly and takes Yuri’s hand—the one clinging to the bedspread—and brings it to his face. It’s the hand that got scarred when Yuri was pushed in the park. The catalyst that brought them together. Yuya touches the scar on Yuri’s palm and he kisses it. Yuri jumps.

“Is this okay?” Yuya asks, his breath a ghost of air over Yuri’s palm.

Yuri nods. Yuya does it again, letting his lips linger. Yuri presses his shaking fingers to Yuya’s cheek. He waits until Yuya looks up and then he leans forward and kisses Yuya. He moves closer, sitting practically in Yuya’s lap. He feels Yuya smile, and he pulls back slightly to kiss the corner of Yuya’s mouth, and the dimple in his cheek.

“Love you too,” Yuri says.

Yuya wraps his arms around Yuri and pulls him down on the bed. “I knew it,” he whispers.


	5. Dark Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHUN DESERVED BETTER THAN CANON GAVE HIM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ambiguous Continuity  
> title inspired by the song "Face Up" by Lights

Even in her sleep, the quiet sound of the door opening sounds like a canon to Ruri’s trained ears. Her years of peaceful rest, knocking out like a rock, have fallen to pieces after months of being on edge and constantly listening for the sounds of an intruder. Ruri is halfway awake when she feels a hand on her shoulder and a familiar voice whispering her name.

She opens her eyes and sits up, blinking in the dim light coming from the half-open door. Shun is staring at her, panic in his eyes, and Ruri is instantly alert.

“What happened?” She asks, already reaching for her duel disk. Did Obelisk force come for them? Did someone not come back from patrol? Which building has fallen?

But Shun grabs Ruri and hugs her tightly, practically squeezing the breath out of her.

“Shun…” Ruri grunts. She’s starting to get her memory back—the war is over, she lives in standard now, and Obelisk force isn’t coming back. So why is Shun so panicked?

“You were gone,” Shun says, speaking into Ruri’s shoulder. “It was all over, it was supposed to be better, but you were gone and nobody seemed to care, you weren’t back and everyone was happy, and I was the only one who knew you were gone and I was going crazy looking for you, but no matter how hard I looked I couldn’t find you—”

Shun’s voice breaks and Ruri realizes that her big brother is crying.

For a second, it’s Ruri’s turn to panic. Shun never cries, not in front of her at least. She knows he’s cried in front of Yuto a few times, but her? Never. Shun convinced himself that he needed to be the strong sibling, that he could shoulder everything. Ruri had told him before that he could lean on her, she was exasperated when he wouldn’t let himself be weak in front of her. But now that it’s happening, now that Shun is crying on her shoulder, Ruri realizes that she doesn’t know what to do.

She starts by giving Shun a hug. “I’m here,” she says, her voice faint as her heart races. He had a nightmare, one about losing her, and he sounds so afraid. She’s going to cry, but she can’t cry, not now when Shun is already crying and she needs to be the strong one. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Shun’s back shakes as he inhales. “I couldn’t find you,” he whimpers. “I missed you so much…”

Ruri closes her eyes as tears gather under her eyelids. “It’s okay now,” she says, trying to keep her voice steady. “We’re together again and I’ll never leave you.”

Shun sits up and wipes his eyes. “You can’t promise me that,” he says, his voice thin and frightened. “I don’t want you to spend your whole life chained to me because I’m not strong enough to let you go.”

Ruri grabs Shun’s hands. “You’re not chaining me,” she says fiercely. “I love you, you’re my family. Who says we need to leave each other?”

“We’ll grow up,” Shun says. “You’ll get a job, maybe date someone, maybe get married. Yuto and I will…maybe…I don’t want you to feel like…”

“Like what?” Ruri challenges. “Like watching my brother and best friend be happy together isn’t the best thing in the world? Like us growing up means we can’t stay close, both in spirit and physical proximity?”

Shun looks down. He wipes his eyes. “It was just a nightmare,” he mutters. “I’m sorry I woke you.”

Ruri grabs his hands. “But I woke you up all the time. Remember, after mom and dad died? You never yelled at me or told me to go away. You were always there for me. I can be here for you now and any time you need me.”

She can tell that the words, though appreciated, mean nothing. After all, she was already taken away from her brother once. No wonder he’s terrified at the thought of losing her again. Ruri can’t remember much from her time in Academia, whether because that awful insect messed with her mind or because she’s repressed it, well, that’s something she may never know. As horrible as it is to say it, she doesn’t remember missing Shun. And she knows that Shun remembers every single second that he was without her. He admitted once that though he mistook Yuzu for her during their first meeting, he knew deep down that Yuzu wasn’t her. He was just so desperate to think that Ruri was okay, the sight of a girl with her face, living happily in a healthy dimension…he hoped he had finally found his sister.

Ruri grabs a decorative pillow from the foot of her bed and plops it down next to her own. “Here,” she says, tugging the blanket aside. “Sleep here tonight.”

Shun gives himself a shake. “It was just a stupid dream.”

Ruri grabs her brother and physically moves him over to the pillow. “Lay down,” she grunts, “Or I will follow you back to your room and steal all your blankets.”

Shun sighs and flops down. Ruri gets up to close her door and by the time she gets back to bed, Shun is already out cold. Ruri adjusts the blankets so he’s covered and lays down next to him. As her eyes adjust to the darkness she can see how disheveled he looks, and how upset he seems even when he’s sleeping. She gently touches the wrinkles in his forehead, tracing them until Shun relaxes and they smooth over. She wonders if he has nightmares like the one that brought him here often, and this is the one time he couldn’t convince himself right away that it was just a dream. She wonders how many times Shun has wanted to come bursting into her room to make sure she’s still there. Knowing Shun, it could have happened every night. He would never tell her.

Ruri decides that she’s going to talk to him about that. Maybe she’ll ask Dr. Aki if they can have a therapy session together. Maybe she’ll do some reading on nightmares. But for now, Ruri finds Shun’s hand under the blankets and holds it. In his sleep, Shun squeezes her hand gently.


	6. Beside You, Dear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuity: Some time after chapter 4 in part 11  
> I'm still bitter about the end of the show

Shun’s never really noticed before, but Yuto’s eyelashes are ridiculous. He’s known that Yuto’s eyelashes are long, but now that Shun has seen him next to Yuya, Yuri, and Yugo, he can honestly say that Yuto has the longest lashes out of any of them. They’re longer than Ruri’s, too. Sometimes Shun gets caught off guard by it, and then he’ll get a glimpse of Yuto’s profile, or happen to notice that the goddamn sun is making his eyelashes cast shadows on his cheeks.

Shadows, from eyelashes. How even?!

Finally, Shun can’t take it anymore. He and Yuto are sitting in Yuto’s room, and Yuto is flipping through a comic book, and his eyelashes just stand out so much against his skin that Shun can’t stop staring at them. Every time Yuto blinks, Shun’s heart skips a beat. It’s driving him nuts.

“Close your eyes,” Shun demands.

Yuto looks up. “Excuse me?”

“Close your eyes,” Shun repeats.

Yuto obeys. “This better not be the start of you giving me something again.”

Shun sits up and inches closer. “Don’t move, and don’t open your eyes,” he warns.

Yuto hums and holds perfectly still. Shun leans close, and he brushes the tip of his finger over Yuto’s eyelashes.

Yuto jumps. “What? Do I have something stuck on my eye?”

“No,” Shun mutters. He looks at his finger—there’s no residue, and they certainly felt real. Yuto is definitely not wearing mascara. “How?” he wonders.

“How what?” Yuto asks.

“How are your eyelashes so long?”

Yuto opens his eyes. “Huh?”

Shun stands up and beckons Yuto to come with him. Yuto follows Shun to the bedroom door, where there’s a small mirror on the wall. They stand side by side, and Shun leans close to the mirror.

“Look at how much longer yours are compared to mine.”

Yuto leans in as well, turning his head side to side, and his eyes widen (framed by those gorgeous lashes). “Wow, they really are long.”

“Ridiculously long,” Shun mutters.

“Is that why you’ve been staring at me more than usual lately?” Yuto asks, his tone knowing.

“I’ve always known they were long,” Shun says, “Just…never how much longer compared to everyone else.”

Yuto grins at him. “Were you making sure they were real, earlier?”

Caught, Shun feels his cheeks heat up. “They’re not normal,” he says haughtily.

Yuto laughs. “Oh, but they must be, they’re all natural.”

Shun shoves at his shoulder and Yuto goes back to the bed, a bit of a spring in his step. Shun follows and flops back down against his headboard. Yuto quickly plants himself in Shun’s lap, leaning against Shun’s chest with his head nestled against Shun’s collar.

“Are they pretty?” Yuto asks.

Shun pretends not to know what he’s talking about. “Are what pretty?”

Yuto pouts. “Duh, my eyelashes!”

Shun looks down at Yuto and grins at him. “Yeah, I guess,” he says, purposely nonchalant.

Yuto pokes him. “Come on, tell me like you mean it.”

So Shun leans over Yuto, cupping his hand against Yuto’s cheek. He kisses Yuto’s forehead. “Your eyelashes…” he murmurs, kissing the bridge of Yuto’s nose, “Are absolutely…” he kisses Yuto’s cheek, just under his eye, and he hears Yuto’s breath hitch.

Shun grins, his lips still pressed to Yuto’s cheek. “Ridiculous.”

Yuto blinks—Shun can feel it, because his eyelashes brush Shun’s skin. “You’re the worst,” Yuto accuses.

Shun laughs and kisses Yuto. “Love you,” he says.

Yuto grabs Shun’s collar and pushes him down on the bed. “Love you too. Now compliment me properly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was watching an early episode of arc-v and I tell you man, Yuto's eyelashes really are ridiculous. 
> 
> PS My birthday is in 2 weeks  
> http://rainbow-galaxy-supernova.tumblr.com/post/159175040956


	7. The Birds and The Bees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys and girls are subjected to The Talk. This ties in with [this story](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11286546), even though I didn't tag it as being part of the Children of War series. But I consider it canon to this AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place between parts 6 and 7.
> 
> Warning for anatomical language, if that makes you uncomfortable then you shouldn't read this.

When the entire Sakaki family shows up to the new house, Serena doesn’t think anything is amiss. They’re all friends, and they’ve come to see say hello and possibly celebrate Yuri being alive and out of the hospital. She’s left Peri in his tank and away from Yuri, there are snacks on the table, and everyone is having a grand time passing Yuri’s dog around and cooing over how cute he is in his little bowtie.

But after an hour, Yoko suddenly stands up, hoisting her bag onto her arm. “Girls, why don’t you come upstairs with me, I have something I want to talk to you all about.”

Serena obeys, though she’s very bewildered at this turn of events. The girls all start to walk towards the stairs until Yuzu suddenly lets out a gasp and freezes in place.

“WAIT A SECOND!” She screeches, pointing at Yoko, “This has happened before!”

A fit of coughing erupts from behind Serena and she turns to see Yuya, red faced and choking, but gazing at Yuzu in astonishment.

“M-mom?” He coughs, “What’s up?”

Yoko’s face is set. “Well honestly it was only a matter of time.” She beckons the girls. “Come along.”

“Can’t I stay here?” Yuzu pleads, “I already sat through this!”

“Okay,” Yoko says with a shrug. “Stay here with your dad and the boys.”

Yuzu lets out a shriek and she runs up the stairs at top speed.

Yuya stands up. “Well I think I’ll be leaving too—”

“Hang on young man,” Yusho says, catching Yuya by his collar, “You’re not excluded.”

Yuya cries that he suffered through this already, and Serena follows Yoko to the room she shares with Yuzu, where Yuzu is already seated on the bed, blushing furiously. The girls all sit on the bed with her, and Yoko grabs the desk chair and pulls it over.

“Alright, girls,” Yoko says, “We’re going to talk about sex.”

Serena inhales sharply and chokes on her own saliva. Rin looks at her feet, and Ruri blushes.

Yoko continues, “I know Yuzu has had her period for a while, what about the rest of you?”

Serena, Ruri, and Rin confirm they’ve had the experience.

“Was it properly explained to you?” Yoko asks.

Serena remembers her biology professor explaining to her, in her private lessons, about the uterus and the shedding of the lining, but how she didn’t fully get it until she woke up one morning with blood on her underwear and she was forced to scream for assistance because there were no pads in her private bathroom. She thinks about how after that, the male staff seemed to vanish, not that there were many around to begin with, and how Leo Akaba became determined to keep her even more segregated from the other students. She thinks about the weeks the Lancer spent hiding in abandoned houses and how she was too embarrassed to ask Yuzu how to use a tampon, the only thing she could find, so instead she ripped up a shirt and stuffed the cloth into her underwear instead.

“No,” Serena answers, as Ruri says yes and Rin stays silent.

“Rin?” Yoko prompts.

Rin shrugs. “There were girls of all ages in the orphanage. I don’t remember learning about what a period was, exactly, but I knew how to handle it.”

Yoko turns to Serena. “What do you have questions about?”

“Tampons,” Serena answers, feeling her face heat up. “How…how do they work?”

Yoko reaches into her bag and takes out a book, which she opens to a diagram that Serena recognizes instantly. Yoko starts explaining the parts of the vagina and where a tampon goes, and how it’s not for all girls, but Serena interrupts.

“But what if it like…doesn’t work?” she asks, and her face is positively burning now. “I…I kind of tried to use one, once…” but it was dark and her hands were shaking, and she was worried about what would happen if she had to pee, because no one told her that those two things didn’t come from the same place. “Never mind,” she mumbles.

“No, it’s a valid question,” Yoko says. “The fact is, sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes if you’re nervous and tense, your muscles tighten up and it can be hard to get anything in there. You may have heard that tampons can tear your hymen—”

“Your what?” Serena asks.

Yoko holds up the diagram again. “It’s a flexible bit of membrane. And flexible means that it shouldn’t affect tampon usage. Now if you have a hard time with tampons, what I recommend is using a mirror to help you. In fact, I recommend all of you take a mirror and have a look at your vagina, if you haven’t already, and do it regularly. It’s good to know what normal looks like for you, and it’ll help you in the future should you ever think something is wrong.”

Yoko lowers the diagram. “Now we’re going to talk about discharge, and then sex. Yes Yuzu, I know you heard it, but we’re going to cover homosexual relations as well this time.”

Yuzu whines and covers her face. Serena leans forward to listen.

 

 

Yuri doesn’t want to know what his face looks like. He’s half horrified, half fascinated. At Academia all students had to attend a personal health class, so he knew about puberty and all that, but sex? That had never been explained to him.

“Any questions?” Yusho asks.

Yuto raises his hand. “Why is this lesson so heteronormative?”

“What’s that?” Yuri asks.

“It means only about straight people,” Yuya says.

“Oh!” Shuzo cries, “I-I mean, we can certainly go over that if…if you have questions…”

Yuto smirks. “No questions, considering it’s a little late for the lesson, I’m just saying, maybe not everyone here is straight.”

It takes a solid ten seconds for everyone to catch Yuto’s meaning, and when they do catch it, Sora lets out a shriek of, “I DIDN’T NEED TO HEAR THAT!”

“Oh, calm down,” Yuto scolds.

“Shun!” Shuzo says, sounding scandalized. “Have you been using condoms?”

“Yes,” Shun says, “But why is that my responsibility? We both buy them.”

“Oh,” Shuzo says. He suddenly looks misty eyed. “My son can’t even talk to me about this…”

“What’s there to talk about?” Yuto asks. “It’s not a big deal.”

“It is!” Shuzo cries, but Yusho cuts him off.

“Everyone thinks of it differently,” Yusho says. “To some people it’s a huge deal, it can be stressful to have sex, and equally stressful not to. The choice is a personal one. Not every couple wants to wait until marriage, not every person wants to have sex at all. And that, boys, is a choice that only you can make. If you have a partner who truly loves you, they won’t pressure you to have sex at all. That being said, it’s quite a different process between men.”

The more Yusho talks, the more Yuri can feel his face burn, as it takes all his will power not to glance at Yuya.

 

 

In the end Yuri can’t decide if the talk has enlightened him or only confused him more. And the worst part is that he has no idea who can talk to about it, because doing so would mean admitting his crush on Yuya. He’s still distracted a while later, when he says goodbye to the Hiiragi family, and he completely misses the look on Serena’s face that says she’s as confused as he is.


	8. Pokémon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Serena gets a new hobby and becomes bros with Shingo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by [this](http://rainbow-galaxy-supernova.tumblr.com/post/163350198096/checkurselfb4umachuwreckurself) conversation I had.

When Yuzu wakes up to an ungodly shriek from Serena at 7:30 on a Saturday, her first thought is that something happened to Peri. She runs downstairs, expecting the worst, but she finds Serena pointing at the TV, a huge smile on her face.

“Pokémon!” Serena screams. “I love that show!”

Yuzu blinks at her. “You…you do?”

Serena nods and plops down a foot away from the TV. “I used to watch this all the time! I didn’t know it was on in this dimension, too!”

Knowing that she’s not going back to sleep, Yuzu staggers over to the sofa and lays down. The rest of her siblings don’t make an appearance, but her father pokes his head in and asks if everything is okay.

Serena undergoes a transformation as the episode progresses. She giggles, she leans into the TV as if afraid she’ll miss something, and every now and then she turns to Yuzu and smiles at her. When the episode ends, Yuzu shows her how to find more episodes on demand. Serena spends the whole morning watching Pokémon, and when their siblings finally wake up and come downstairs they all join in, but none are as excited as Serena.

“You didn’t know what soda was when you got here, but you know Pokémon and Sailor Moon?” Shun asks her.

Serena doesn’t take her eyes off the TV. “Well, I was kept pretty isolated, you know? I used to watch these shows all the time.”

She says it so nonchalantly, but on the sofa, Yuzu and the others share a horrified look. Even without mentioning names, they all know she’s referring to Leo Akaba, and they all know he was very protective of Serena, to the point of being possessive. But Yuzu latches on to the fact that Serena likes Pokémon, and she gets out her laptop and looks up more about it.

During dinner, Yuzu turns to Serena and asks, “Do you want to go to the Pokémon center?”

Serena almost chokes on her dinner. “It’s real?!” She gasps through her carrots.

A week later, Serena stands in tears outside the Pokémon center in the middle of Tokyo. “It’s beautiful,” she whispers.

Yuzu grins and nudges her arm. “So go in!”

Serena hugs herself. “I’ll buy everything in sight!”

“Do it,” Shuzo, Shun, Rin, and Ruri all encourage.

Serena turns to them. “I mean, even with all the money we have that’s…that’s a lot of stuff!”

At once they all, even Yuzu, whip out their wallets.

“You’re my baby girl now,” Shuzo says.

“Birthday is coming up,” Rin and Ruri say.

“I know you didn’t like what I got you last Christmas,” Shun says.

“You’re my girlfriend, after all,” Yuzu tells her.

Serena actually starts to cry. “I love you guys,” she says.

But the tears don’t last as the family rushes into the store. They each grab a basket, and they fan out.

“Hey Serena, how many Pikachu is too many?” Ruri asks as she grabs plushies.

“Ooh, mystery boxes!” Rin says, picking several silver-pouches out.

“Hey, she can finally wear something besides black,” Shun laughs as he discovers the clothing shelves.

Shuzo grabs an employee. “Excuse me, we’re here to spoil my daughter, and we plan to buy a lot. Like, a lot, a lot of stuff.”

Yuzu follows Serena as she dashes between shelves, so happy that she accidentally bumps into someone.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Serena says hastily, before she gasps. “Shingo!”

Yuzu gapes. It is, indeed, Shingo standing in front of the card rack.

“Hey, Serena,” He says. “Doing some shopping?”

Serena nods. “A lot of shopping. I didn’t know this place existed.”

Shingo reaches into his pocket and hands Serena a few cards. “I have these already, and they’re not worth much online, so if you want them, you can have them.”

Serena took the cards with reverence, looking at them with wide-eyes. “There’s cards?” She asks. “I had no idea!”

Shingo places a hand over his heart and staggers back, like he’s having an attack. “You didn’t know,” he gasps dramatically. “You didn’t know?!”

Serena frowns. “Hey, I lived on an island! I’ve never been here before.”

“TRAVESTY!” Shingo exclaims, taking Serena’s hands and gazing into her face. “This poor child! Never fear,” he strikes a pose, “I will teach you all you need to know, for I have been playing this game since long before I picked up a duel disk!”

Yuzu breaks Shingo’s hold on Serena’s hands. “You do know she’s my girlfriend, right?” She asks.

Shingo ignores her and starts telling Serena how to build a Pokémon deck. “Don’t you dare go thinking that this is anything like Duel Monsters!” He warns, “What type is your favorite? There are pros and cons to battling with each type. Either way, these are the cards you need to battle no matter what. Don’t worry Serena, I’ll teach you everything you need to know!”

By the end of the day, the family leaves the Pokémon center laden with bags of plushies, figurines, household goods, and packs of playing cards. Once they get home, Serena spends all night unpacking her bags, arranging her new things, and thanking everyone for helping her get everything she could have possibly wanted.

 

When the following Saturday rolls around, Yuzu expects to wake up alone in bed, the sounds of Pokémon coming from the TV downstairs. What she doesn’t expect is to go downstairs and find Shingo sitting with Serena in front of the TV together.

“You’re not fabulous enough to be Musashi,” Shingo tells Serena as a commercial plays on TV. “You wear the same thing every day!”

“I’ve been wearing new stuff all week!” Serena protests. “Besides, you wear the same thing all the time, too!”

“It’s called a uniform!” Shingo retorts, “Your closet is full of black, what’s your excuse?”

“Isn’t black fashionable?”

Shingo pretends to stick the remote in his gut like a sword.

Yuzu giggles as she sits on the sofa. “Having fun?”

“Hardly!” Shingo shrieks as he sits up, pointing at Serena. “She’s a heathen!”

Serena grabs a throw pillow and smacks Shingo with it. “He’s annoying!”

But as the cartoon comes back on, the two of them stop squabbling and start watching. As the show progresses, Shingo grabs a binder in front of him and flip through pages upon pages of Pokémon cards.

“So here’s how you do that attack if you were playing the card game…”

Serena leans over Shingo’s shoulder and studies the cards. “How come we don’t have duel disks for this game?”

“Believe me,” Shingo says, “I’ll find out someday.”

Yuzu watches them with a smile. She’s happy that Serena’s made a new friend through Pokémon.


End file.
